The book of garden design

From the earliest times the garden has been regarded as a fitting adjunct to the dwelling-places of man. The very name seems to suggest a place of beauty and repose, where the f...

Before bringing his attention to bear on special cases, the garden designer must have clearly in view the general principles which are the underlying features of all good work....

There are few points connected with the art of garden design over which greater differences of opinion are likely to arise, than those associated with the preliminary considerat...

Directly we leave the public road and enter upon the precincts of the dwelling, the question of suitable walks and paths at once demands attention. According to the size of the...

A certain sense of responsibility attaches to those who plant timber, quite out of proportion to that incurred in the pursuit of the minor and more transitory forms of garden ar...

Hitherto we have mainly considered that part of garden design which has for its object the production of pleasant scenes, of pictures formed by gay flowers, and beauteous carpet...

Happy indeed are they whose gardens contain a piece of water,—for water when properly treated is one of the first aids to beauty and completeness in design. It may be a stately...

As the glowing colours to a beautiful picture, so are the flowers to our gardens. In many books written on garden design, we find no mention whatever of the best kinds of plants...

Whilst every garden, no matter how small, should contain its herbaceous border, well stocked with hardy perennials, only a comparatively small number will admit of those delight...

The majority of English gardeners are slow to recognise the value of the various flowering shrubs as an aid to the carrying out of design. Our gardens, as a whole, are far too s...

It would be impossible to over-estimate the value of the various climbing plants to the designer; without them our gardens would lose half their beauty and charm. This much we o...